Hills Machinery Invests inFacilities inVirginia, Georgia

well into our long-term strategy of carrying several of the product lines that we have in the Carolinas and supplements the growth of the new businesses.”

Hills Machinery also partners with Toro to market its rugged lines of landscaping and compact construction equipment in all three South Carolina branches as well as in Charlotte and Wilmington, N.C.

“Toro gives us another product offering for many of our customers in the landscaping industry that buy compact track loaders and mini excavators,” said Adam Hills, the dealership’s executive vice president. “The compact equipment line brings in new customers, but it is also an addition to our rental fleet.”

Jim Hills added that the small end of the compact line, within which Toro products occupy, is likely the fastest growing segment of the market.

“We have not been able to keep them in stock longer than a week or so once they hit the yard,” Adam Hills said. “We have people waiting on them because the quality of the equipment has been so good.”

Large Investment in Recycling Machines

Even before Hills Machinery planned its branch network expansions into Virginia and Georgia, the company long had salespeople working in those markets to sell its aggregate crushing and screening equipment.

Among the environmental machines available companywide are Rubble Master, IRock Crushers, Eagle Crusher and Edge Innovate.

Their inclusion in Hills Machinery’s inventory represents a sizable investment made by the dealership in the crushing, screening and recycling segment of the equipment business over the years. In fact, the company created a division that only focuses on these types of products.

“It has been highly successful from the perspective that it allows us to come to the table with full-service solutions for those customers,” Hills said. “We may sell them a crusher, but many times they may need to have a device to load the machine, and very often they need products to stack the materials, so as a full-service provider, we can come in with a value add. We have realized that it is critically important to be focused and to be knowledgeable and professional in that area, which is why we have specific divisions within our organization.”

Just like the environmental specialists at Hills Machinery, its paving division personnel and product-support people only concentrate on asphalt equipment and service.

“We can bring full-service solutions to the market; however, we are not generalists,” he added. “Rather, we must be professional experts and represent each of these products. Our investments today must be in people, training and facilities in order to execute successfully.”

To that end, Hills Machinery works to identify talented people — not just service technicians, but those with mana- gerial skills and sales talent.

As a result, the dealership quickly became proficient at running an effective 24-hour-a-day product support business, Hills said.

“We have a rapid response program that is in place for any calls that come in after hours – anywhere in the Carolinas –and it is our aim to have someone on a job within two hours under any circumstance knowing, for instance, the perishable nature of a lot of the materials used in the paving business,” he said.

Success Rooted in Product Support

Hills noted that his company’s attentiveness in supporting its products “is the bedrock upon which we hold onto the customers that we have today, and it allows us to have an opportunity to do business with customers in the future. Product support is a business unto itself so it is in our best interest to be as good at it as we possibly can. It is also in our customers’ best interest to make sure that they continue to grow their business successfully with us as their partner.”

He added that his company has been an attractive ally for top-tier equipment makers because they understand Hills Machinery will not only make the necessary investments in products and support but place the focus squarely on their machines as anchors of the dealership.

“When we take on any partner, we are fully invested in both their success, and ours, and the entire organization is geared to make sure that happens,” Hills said. 